Nesting, agitation… Could Oreo be pregnant?

[Aerii]

My lovely rescue Oreo has calmed down from growling and charging at me after she bit me and got a spritz from the spray bottle but last night i heard her ripping at the carpet so i ran to the bunny room to find her with a haystache. She ran behind the bedroom door so i closed the door a bit to find hay, shredded carpet and shredded toys. Not thinking about the possibility of pregnancy i started to pick it up so i could place a mat down to prevent her from ripping up the carpet there.
Thats when she started throwing a tantrum, she let out some growls then started stomping, now if i so much as look at her she stomps and runs to a hiding spot where she continues to stomp for 15 mi utes.
I put her nest back the way she had it and put some nesting supplies near by for her but she is some angry with me.
If anyone who reads this doesnt know, i rescued Oreo a few weeks ago. I was told that her and her previous companion weren’t mature yet so she couldn’t be pregnant but when i picked her up the lady informed me they were 8 months old and tried to convince me to take her other bunny but i couldn’t have a 3rd bun.
Due to the conditions they were living in i had to report the lady to animal services as she had dozens of animals in unfit conditions and it broke my heart.
I dont know the first thing about raising baby bunnies and if Oreo is pregnant i dont know what to do.

[Bam]

If she’s pregnant you’ll soon know, buns nest very closely upon giving birth. Most bun moms are excellent mothers so you don’t have to do much more than provide a nest box and nesting material, plus extra food for Oreo.

It is however very common that unspayed girl buns get false pregnancies. It can be triggered by a whole host of environmental stimuli, rabbits are induced ovulators so they don’t have heat cycles likes dogs do. The bun acts as if it were pregnant, she pulls her own fur (pregnancy hormones make the fur loosen so it’s not self-mutilation), and tries to build a nest. Then she doesnt have baby and the false pregnancy resolves of itself.

You can provider her with a nest box, whether she actually is pregnant or just pseudo-pregnant. It helps her feel safer either way. If she has actual kits, the nest box should be made so that the kits can’t accidentally migrate out of it and get cold. The walls shouldn’t be so high that the mama bun cant jump into the box for feeding time. Mama bun won’t lie in the nest with the kits, she’ll just go there to feed them 1-2 times per day. That’s how rabbits go about motherhood, so that’s how it should be.

[Aerii]

Thanks!
Would a small carboard box be suitable for a nest box?
Also should it be open top?
I have limited funds at this moment in time but have all kinds of boxes that i could use that have no ink in them as I’m building a maze in my bunny room

[Muchelle]

Since animal service was called on the previous owner, could you maybe ask them about a trustworthy rabbit rescue group in your area? Maybe they can have her visited for free or for a small fee. She’ll need a spay and you’ll need help finding the kits a home, if she’s really pregnant.

If she was mistreated, it can be she’s just terrified and trying to build a hiding spot?

[Aerii]

I don’t know anything that followed after I made the call, ill be having her spayed next month hopefully. But as for hiding, shes been really swee and social with me as well as she has no shortage of hiding spots as she has a couple in her hutch as well as half the room is a maze of tunnels and boxes that is slowly getting larger as i add another level and expand it across the room. Multiple tunnels end just inside little carriers full of Orchard grass. Its bunny paradise with TONS of hidey holes.

[Author]

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